The number of reported traffic accidents during the third quarter of 2022 reached 4,062, up by 2.1 per cent over 2021, as roads grow increasingly dangerous, official figures show.  

In a new data release, the National Statistics Office on Tuesday said the so-called Northern Harbour district of the island registered the most accidents with 1,388 cases or 34.2 per cent of all accidents. 

Overall, road traffic casualties increased by 4.4 per cent to 449 over the same period in 2021. 

Grievously injured persons amounted to 116 and consisted of 61 drivers, 17 passengers and 38 pedestrians and cyclists. 

The injuries suffered by one passenger and five pedestrians proved fatal. 

During this quarter, four more fatalities occurred when compared to the same period in 2021. 

The majority of those grievously injured were males (71.6 per cent). 

Moreover, five of the fatalities that occurred during this quarter involved males while the other fatality involved a female. 34.7 per cent of the casualties involved persons in the 26 to 40 age bracket. 

The largest number of road traffic casualties (53.7 per cent) involved passenger cars, followed by motorcycles (34.3 per cent) and goods-carrying vehicles (5.6 per cent). 

The six fatalities included four pedestrians being hit by a vehicle, a vehicle crashing into a property killing a passenger and another pedestrian hit by a vehicle in a hit-and-run. 

Some 13 cyclists were involved in traffic accidents, with seven suffering slight injuries and the other six grievously injured. 

The highest number of road traffic casualties occurred on Saturdays with 71 recorded, while the highest number of road traffic accidents occurred on Fridays with 647 cases or 15.9 per cent. 

Birkirkara had the most incidents with 273 cases, followed by Mosta and St Paul’s Bay, with 210 and 198 cases respectively.